Starlight
by PurpleFire531
Summary: After an uprising against magic by the Pegasi and Earth Ponies, all unicorns, and all magic have ceased to exist. The sun and moon stay fixed in an eternal twilight and the stars no longer shine. However, there is one spark of magic left, in a young unicorn filly named Starlight. Her destiny may be the key to bring magic back to Equestria, but is she up to the challenge?


Starlight pulled her scarf tighter around her neck as a cold blast of wind caught her by surprise. The night, if you could call it that, was cold and clear; the sun sitting still and silent on one horizon and the moon, just as motionless, on the other horizon, in a perpetual dusk. It was not at all the type of evening she had been hoping for. She had been hoping for a warmer night, one where she would not have to waste candles to keep her warm. She shivered as she pulled herself into a small crack in the bridge she lived under, just barely big enough for a filly her size, leading her into her home, a hollow strut that held the bridge up. It was just enough room for her and her stuff; which was all the room she really needed.

Starlight didn't have anybody really, no family to speak of, and of course, no friends; she was far too shy for that and it would have been very hard to keep friends, since she moved so often. She had too; staying in one place to long was bad, it meant leaving a trail; something for those who searched desperately to find her, and hurt her, to follow.

Even now, she thought, she had been in one place far too long. She looked around at the small hideaway she was in now, she had finally arranged it just the way she liked. A small candle burned in the center of the tiny room, illuminating the stone walls warmly and making it almost feel cozy. It really was only big enough for her and her belongings. There weren't many of those. All she had was a blanket where she curled up and slept in one corner, along with her favorite hat; a white knit one that was really too big for her, but she loved it anyway and never took it off, except when she was home.

On the wall above her blanket was a small, cracked mirror. She caught sight of her reflection in it and sighed. Her pale yellow, really it was almost white, mane was in a horrendous tangle and her deep purple coat was made even darker by the dirt in it. Even the white freckles across her nose were a light shade of brown. She scrunched up her nose as she looked at herself and then giggled when it made her face look funny.

In the another corner was a small collection of books and trinkets she had collected over the lonely years of her short life; two walls were covered with star charts and planet diagrams and calendars that she had made herself and were all perfectly accurate. Ever since she could remember, Starlight had been fascinated by the sky; the sun, the moon, and most importantly, the stars. Even if she had never actually seen the stars, since Equestria had been stuck in eternal twilight for as long as she could remember, they still fascinated her. She had memorized every star chart and read every book she could find on anything to do with the sky and the celestial bodies that lived up there.

She even had a small refracting mirror telescope that turned so she could push it out a small hole in the wall of her room and look at the moon every night; every night that wasn't cloudy that is. She huffed and put the telescope by the pile of books.

She looked at the books worriedly. If she had to leave quickly, she might not be able to carry all the books with her in her saddle bags; she hoped it wouldn't come to that. In a fit of nervousness she organized the books with the most important on top and the least important on bottom, frowned and then made two piles, of important and non-important, organized by author's last name. No, that wouldn't do… Starswirl's _Basic Guide to the Skies_ was now at the bottom of the important pile and she might not get to it. Better organize both piles by title, she reasoned.

She was halfway through arranging the non-important pile, having arranged the important pile first, when loud hoofsteps sounded overhead. She tensed and quickly blew the candle out, crouching down in the corner with the blanket, barely breathing until they passed. She frowned and scrunched her nose; it was rare anybody used this bridge at night. It was on the outskirts of the city and only really used in the day time by ponies traveling out to other towns. Her hideaway was hidden in one of the stone pillars holding the small bridge up.

As the hoof steps faded, Starlight allowed herself to relax. She looked down at the candle just barely illuminated by the crack of moonlight coming in from the missing brick hole. She groped around in the darkness of the corner she was in and sighed as her hoof connected with an empty matchbox. Turning back to the candle, she concentrated fiercely, directing all of her energy at the tip of the wick. A small, very wispy halo of deep, dark purple surrounded the candle. With a supreme effort and a popping sound the candle sparked and then flared to life.

She flopped back down onto her blanket. Magic was hard. She rarely used it and when she did, it exhausted her. Unfortunately, she had needed it to light the candle since apparently she was out of matches. She was still very young and inexperienced at magic. Relighting the candle had made her tired.

She yawned and reached over to the book pile and pulled over the top book in the non-important pile. It was one she hadn't read yet. She smiled and opened the first page, lying down on her belly as she did so. She yawned again and looked down at the page, but before she could even start the first sentence, her light purple eyes began to droop and she slowly began to snuggle into the blanket under her. She yawned a final time and gave in to sleep, using the book as a pillow and drooling slightly on the page.

The next morning, Starlight woke up to the heavy sound of many hooves passing overhead. She rolled over, yawning. Those hoof beats were her daily alarm. Every morning, the ponies that lived in nearby towns like Ponyville; but worked in the capital, would make their commute in using the bridge where she lived. She glanced at the watch on her foreleg and frowned. It had stopped again in the night. She slid it off and laid it on the ground, flipping open the backside. She quickly rewound one of the tiny gears, her small and delicate hooves perfect for the job. A quiet ticking started up again and she paused, deep in thought.

About 8:30 am she reasoned and turned another gear to set the time right. Even with no movement of the sun, Starlight could always, inexplicably, tell what time it was. It was a quirk she had no explanation for. She didn't really need the watch but it was one of the few possessions she had that had belonged to her before she had run away.

Before her life on the streets and outskirts of the capital had begun, she had lived in a small orphanage. She didn't live with the other foals though, she was… different. At least that was what the mare who ran the orphanage had told her. She didn't really know what it meant at the time, though she thought she did now.

A soft rumbling sound snapped Starlight out of her reverie and she glanced down at her stomach. She was starving. Last night she had been unable to find food for herself and had gone to bed without. This morning, however, she knew she really had to find something to eat. She pulled on her saddlebags and stuffed a few essentials in. Then, grabbing her hat and scarf, she wiggled her way out of the crack and into a small alcove under the bridge. She waited patiently for a lull in the sound of hoof steps above her and when there was she ran up onto the bridge and then continued walking towards the capital city.

While her bridge was on the outskirts of the city, it really wasn't that far for her to walk to get into the very heart of the capital. She looked around at all the sights and smells of the big city. It was a dirty place, filled with the stench of hundreds of ponies all living near each other. The tall buildings on either side of the street blocked most of the light that normally would have come into the city. Since the sun was unmoving, the city was always bathed in shadows.

Starlight figured her best bet for food today, since it was still rather cold and few ponies were out and about, was to go to the downtown market. She usually avoided it, choosing instead to pick up food other ponies had left behind, which, yes, sometimes included the garbage bins. However, everything was boarded up tight today and the market was looking like her only option. Starlight disliked the market for two reasons. First, because for her to actually get her hooves on food she had to steal it; and second because it was filled with many of the city's most unsavory citizens..

It was one of the more dangerous parts of the city, which was saying something, since all of the capital was dangerous, filled with poverty, decay and decline. It was especially dangerous for a filly all by herself. Starlight hadn't survived this long by being scared however, and made her way to the market.

It encompassed two city blocks and was, unlike the rest of the city today, filled with ponies. A huge crowd of pegasi and earth ponies filled the street. Merchants screamed their wares to all those who passed by and many of the customers shoved any pony in their way to get to them. Along with the customers and vendors, there were also a fair number of city police ponies milling about, in an effort to quell some of the chaos. They were largely unsuccessful. Usually, they stayed out of this part of the city since it was run down and few crimes committed here were ever reported or noticed. The police usually stayed in the more well-kept parts of town and ignored the ghettos, like this one.

Starlight tried her best to stay out of any pony's way and to stay unnoticed. The presence of the police ponies had made her even more nervous. She could not be caught when, and if, she stole food. She didn't want to go back to the orphanage, or worse. If they found out about her, worse things would defiantly be in store. She looked around for a suitable food source. It has to be a stall with lots of ponies to distract the vendor. She briefly considered a stall with a frantic orange-maned mare selling carrots, but dismissed on the grounds of wanting something warm to eat on this cold day.

Then she spotted it, a stall selling thermoses of sunflower soup. There were many ponies milling around it, occupying the three sellers quite nicely. She debated for a few more seconds before she saw that the middle of one of the lines waiting to be served contained a hectic mother and her five foals. Jackpot. Starlight quietly squeezed herself in after the family in line and waited patiently. Eventually they reached the front and the mother began barking orders at the frazzled mare behind the counter of the stall.

As the first thermos arrived for one of the younger fillies, Starlight moved herself up and grabbed it, walking away as nonchalantly as she could manage. She was about four feet away and considered herself home-free when she heard a voice behind her.

"Ma'am, one of you're children is wandering off." The vendor mare said, glancing in Starlight's direction as she set a second thermos down. The mother looked where the vendor had been pointing and shook her head.

"That isn't one of mine." She shrugged. Starlight panicked and began to run, aiming for an alleyway not fare down the road. If she could just get out of sight before—

"Hey! Come back here! You have to pay for that!" The vendor mare yelled, catching the attention of a nearby police pony who turned and spotted Starlight. She spared a glace backward and saw him too. She increased her speed, only causing the police stallion to turn and give chase.

"Hey! Come back here!" He shouted, following her as she turned into the alley. Starlight skidded to a stop as she realized her mistake. A brick wall loomed over her- a dead end. She looked frantically around for a method of escape as the fast hoof beats of the officer grew closer. Then, suddenly, she spotted it: a ladder leading to the roof of the building next to her. She shoved the thermos into her saddle bag and began to climb, hoping that she would be fast enough to evade her pursuer.

"GET DOWN!" The shout nearly scared Starlight into falling. She looked down for a split second and sure enough, the officer stood below here. She climbed faster, but noticed that the ladder now shook with his bulk coming up behind her. She reached the roof and pulled herself up and ran to the edge of the building. The wind whipped around fiercely this high up and she experienced a surge of vertigo as she realized how high up she was.

"Hey! Just come down and we can sort this thing out! Okay?" The officer wasn't up to the top of the ladder yet, but his voiced reached her and she went pale. There was nowhere left to go, she backed away from the ladder, not looking where she was stepping. Her back leg hit an air vent and sent her falling. She put her hooves out to stop her fall. It was only then that she realized that there was no building underneath her. Her misstep had sent her over the edge and she was now in free fall.

As she fell, time seemed to slow down. She resisted the urge to scream, desperately trying to get her magic going. If she could just eek out a force field, she could cushion her fall. It was no use, she was too scared. She closed her eyes and just as she prepared to hit the hard cold ground, she hit something else… something furry.

"Jeez, Kid! You have to be more careful! Nearly gave me a heart attack! You're lucky I was looking up when you fell! What on earth were you doing up on the top of a building anyway!"

It was more of a statement than a question, and as Starlight opened her eyes, just a slit, she saw she was on the back of a light blue pegasus. They flew over another building and touched down in another alley, far from the police stallion. Starlight tumbled off the pegasus's back and landed nose down on the hard concrete. It was a stark reminder of what had almost happened. When she flipped over and stood up, she found herself looking into dark pink eyes.

"I said, what were you…" The blue pegasus stood straight up and looked down at her, noticing something for the first time.

"What?" Starlight asked, not understanding. Then she caught sight of something small and white next to the pegasus's hoof. Her hat! It had fallen off when they landed. She rushed over and picked it up, jamming it onto her head, but it was too late. The pegasus flipped back a bit of her rainbow mane and looked down at Starlight. "You're a unicorn." She said in disbelief.


End file.
